A science professor is going viral for turning her makeup into a chemistry lesson

For Debbie Gale Mitchell, a chemistry professor at University of Denver, a lesson plan is also an opportunity for a unique beauty look. (Photo: heydebigale via Twitter)

With teachers who rap Cardi B to spice up their geography lessons or who become hairstylists to help a student in need, education these days means going beyond what’s inside the textbooks. For Debbie Gale Mitchell, a chemistry professor at University of Denver, a lesson plan is also an opportunity for a unique beauty look.

Mitchell deserves to go viral for her flawless rainbow eye makeup alone. But as she explained on Twitter, her look is scientific. “I’m a chemistry prof who loves over-the-top makeup,” she wrote. “I’m teaching spectroscopy today, so [rainbow] seemed appropriate.”

She based the shadow on spectroscopy, the study of how matter interacts with light and radiation. In layman’s terms, that means she chose her colors based on wavelength. “Colors are ordered by wavelength (λ). Longer λ was placed in the inner corner w/ λ decreasing (E) towards outer corner,” she explained. She pulled together the whole look with the help of Kat Von D’s Pastel Goth palette and a rainbow makeup tutorial from Dear Darkling.

The internet has already fallen in love with Mitchell thanks to a joke on her fall semester syllabus, when she decided to list Beyoncé‘s birthday as the real reason behind her canceled class on Labor Day weekend.